Ragnarok Online Forever, The Fanfiction
by Juxapose4ever
Summary: A fanfiction based on a Ragnarok Online Private server, Ragnarok Online: Forever.
1. Part 1, Chapter 1

**Part 1, Chapter 1**

Swords, magic, friendship, cooperation, even romance. Whether it's the clashing of swords between people or monsters, everyone trains their hardest to become the best. These are some of the things that can be found in the world of Ragnarok.

In the world of Rune-Midguard, many people have dreams of becoming someone important or famous. More than half of the citizens carry a sword or staff, and raise it against the strongest monsters in hopes of becoming a hero.

This story starts in Izlude, the satellite city of Prontera. Here, you can find the Swordman Academy where they train young novices to become swordmen. Inside, a young man has just graduated after a long test. A brand new swordman has just been born. As he walks out the doors of the swordman guild, he stretches his arms. He looks around, and watches the citizens move along with their lives. He raises his sword into the air, and makes a vow to protect them against anyone or anything who wishes to do them harm.

He then looks up into the sky with confidence, and says out loud, **"Now that I've become a swordman, I've better start training right away."**

As he walks outside the walls of Izlude, Artisan can already see monsters lurking around the roads back to Prontera. They are all weak monsters, mostly porings, drops, and lunatics. As he walks through, he defeats all the monsters in his way back to Prontera. He stop at the gates of Prontera to think for a mmoment about his future actions.

After thinking for a while, he says to himself, **"This is the place where I was born and grew up. Now that the Yakuza Guild has taken over the castle, things are not as good as they used to be anymore. The taxes are too high, and crime is out of control. Why wont King Tristan III do anything about it? Well, that's easy. He gets paid to ignore the actions of the Yakuza Guild. Someday, I will join a powerful guild, and take them out of the castle. Then I will make my hometown a much better place to live."**

Just standing in front of Prontera wont make him any stronger, so he does what any swordman in training would do. Moves on to the next area. To the west, Artisan finds himself in a field where stronger monsters lurk. Although non aggressive, they will fight back when provoked.

As he draws his blade, he announces, **"I apologize for taking the lives of innocent monsters. But for Prontera, I have no choice, but to fight."**

He starts off with a few rockers, medium sized grasshopper looking monsters. Not much of a challenge, but at least they will keep him on his toes. Eventually, he starts to get bored, so he finds a new monster to hunt. He found himself a poporing, a green and slightly larger version of the Poring. It was eating an apple beside a tree as Artisan approaches it for an attack. Taking the opportunity to attack while it's guard is down, he draws his sword and attacks it. The poporing is now angry that someone has disturbed it while it's eating, so it gets ready to fight back. Artisan continues to attack while defending with his small shield called a guard. It's not going down easily, so he uses a skill that was taught to him at the swordman academy.

He raises his blade up and yells, **"Bash!"** He then smahes the sword into the poporing almost splitting the slimy creature in half. The poporing is hurt badly, but it gets back up.

**"What! It's not defeated yet?!"** yelled Artisan lowering his guard out of shock.

The poporing attacks back before Artisan has a chance to defend with his guard. Artisan was hit hard enough to be knocked down. The poporing tries to score another attack, but artisan tries another skill.

Using as much power as he can muster, he rauses his blade using both hands and yells, **"Magnum Break!"** The fiery shock wave finished off the poporing. From it's slimy body, the items that the poporing ate scatters all over the floor. Artisan checks the loot, but finds nothing useful.

He sighs as he counts his loot, **"Three jellopies, an apple, and some sticky liquid. This wont get me much at the market, but I guess every little bit counts."** After he puts his loot in his bag, Artisan began to feel a little bit strange.

He checks his wound that the poporing gave him and says, **"Damn, I think the poporing poisoned me when it last attacked me. . . I don't have any green potions, so I'll have to wait it out."**

Artisan thought sitting down in the fields as the poison tries to wear out was a good idea. But there is trouble creeping up to him. The nearby bushes starts to shake. Artisan looks over and asks, **"Is someone over there? I'm poisoned, and I need help. If you have some green potion, I would gladly pay you back later."**

After he spoke out, three rockers, and their leader Vocal jumps out of the bushes. Vocals are agressive larger grasshopper like insect monsters, and they found their next victim.

**"Crap! I'm in trouble!"** he yelled. Artisan tries to run, but his poison still hasn't worn off yet. As he runs away, he trips on a rock that was sticking out from the ground. He tries to get up, but the poison made him feel dizzy. The vocal is getting closer, seeing that things were hopeless he feels that he is going to die on the first day on his adventure.

As he shuts his eyes and waits for the inevitable, he hears a loud voice yell, **"Double strafe!"**

Two arrows flew past him, and killed one of the rockers. The Vocal stops seeing that there is more than one person in the field. Three adventurers runs to Artisan's rescue, a thief with white hair, a blond merchant, and an archer with long brunette hair.

**"Ryuker! Take care of the swordman! Bowen! Assist me with that monster."** said the thief. The thief and the archer ran to fight the vocal, while the merchant came up to Artisan to see if he is okay.

**"Are you OK?"** asked the merchant

**"Who are you?"** asked Artisan. His face is a bit pale from the poison.

The merchant looks at his wound and says, **"It looks like you're poisoned. Here's a green potion."**

From his oversized sack, he pulls out a small bottle filled with green liquid. After drinking the potion, Artisan began to feel better immediately. He looks at the other two, and the Vocal was already defeated. He was amazed at how fast they all defeated the rocker. Such organization, and speed he never would see in a small party.

The thief checks the loot dropped by the vocal and it's party **"Ryuker! Look at what we found! A rocker doll! How much you think we can get for this?"**

The merchant takes a look at the doll and says, **"Wow, that's pretty rare. I'm sure I can sell it for a good price."**

The thief then approaches Artisan. By the look on the thief's face, Artisan feels that he is not going to mug him for everything he has. Rumors float around that thieves work alone or in groups of other thieves. BUt this thief is in a party with other jobs, so he feels safe.

**"Are you OK?"** Asked the thief.

**"I am now. Thanks for your help. I thought I was going to die. But, who are you guys?"**

**"Why, I am Juxapose, the thief. I lead this party."** Juxapose then points at his party members and says, **"And with me, that's Bowen, the archer, and Ryuker, the merchant."**

**"What were you doing in these parts without any recovery items?"** asked Ryuker.

**"I didn't think that I would be poisoned so soon."** answered Artisan.

**"Let me guess, you're a noob right?"** asked Juxapose. A noob is a person who just recently graduated from an academy.

Artisan looks at juxapose awkwardly and says, **"Quite a strange way to put it, but yes. I just graduated from the swordman guild only a few hours ago."**

Bowen then says, **"You know, you shouldn't be in these part without a party. It's dangerous for new adventurers."**

Artisan laughs and replies, **"I'll remember that for next time."** After dusting off hus armor, he waves at the party saying, **"Well, see you later. Thanks again for your help."**

**"Wait a second!"** Juxapose called. Artisan stops to listen to what he has to say. **"Want to join our party?"**

Artisan was amazed to het invited so soon after his humiliating performance. So he asks, **"You want me to join you guys?"**

Juxapose answers, **"Of course! Having a swordman in the party is just what we need. Right guys?"**

Bowen and Ryuker respond **"Yeah! Join us!"**

It doesn't take Artisan long before deciding, **"Well, why not? Count me in."**

Artisan and Juxapose shakes hands. Juxapose then says, **"Welcome to the Justice Union."**

Artisan snickers at the name of the party and says, **"That's a very. . . interesting party name."**

Juxapose sighs and says,** "Well, it's not the best name, but the party has already been formed, so the name stays."**

**"Understood."**

And so, Artisan's journey to be the best swordman he can be starts now. What sort of adventures will his new friends face from here on?

** End of chapter 1 **


	2. Part 1, Chapter 2

Juxapose, Ryuker, Artisan, and Bowen celebrate their new party member at a tavern in Prontera. While the others are drinking beer and wine, Juxapose opens another bottle of milk and drinks it as fast as he possibly can. The others stare as he drinks his bottle of milk.

Juxapose then slams the empty bottle on the table and says cheerfully, **"Ahh! That's good milk! Another round please!"**

**"That is your fifteenth bottle since we got here."** commented Artisan.** "Do you honestly love milk that much?"**

**"Of course! Milk is the best, and it's so good for you!"** answered Juxapose

**"You won't catch me drinking milk any time soon."**

**"Why not?"** asked Juxapose.

**"Well, when was the last time you saw a cow?"** Artisan asked.

**"Cow?"**

Ryuker thinks for a moment and says, **"Now that I think about it. Haven't cows been extinct for almost 500 years?"**

After Ryuker's last comment , the waitress arrives and lays another cold bottle of milk on the table. Juxapose then curiously asks the waitress, **"Excuse me miss. Where does the milk you sell come from?"**

**"I don't know, I just serve it."** she answered.

Ryuker, Artisan, and Bowen starts to laugh, and Juxapose pushes the milk bottle away from him. **"This is the last time I drink milk."**

After they paid the bill, the team heads to the weapon/armor shop. Since Aritsan is new to the party, the other party members already know that he may be a bit underequipped for any future adventures.

Juxapose then says, **"OK! It's time to gear up our newest member of our party. Ryuker, appraise him!"**

Ryuker then circles Artisan a few times taking notes on all his current equipment. After he fully appraises him, he says, **"Let's see here. . . I see a wooden armor, sword, guard, sandals, and a hood."**

**"That is the most pathetic set of gear I've ever heard on a swordman!"** Mocked Juxapose. **"Ok Ryuker, go work your magic at the owner."**

**"OK!"** said Ryuker as he rubs his hands together in delight. He then heads over to the counter where he greets the armor dealer.

**"Good afternoon, how can I help you?"** greets the shop owner.

**"Hi there. We need some armor for our friend who is a swordman. But he's a little bit new, so how about giving us a hand, and give us a small discount?"**

**"Why is he telling him all that?"** whispered Artisan.

Juxapose whispers back, **"Don't worry about it so much. He has a talent called 'Discount', where he convinces the shop owners to give us a discount on just about anything."**

**"Oh, I see."**

Ryuker spends a few good minutes chatting with the armor dealer. After he's done, he pays for the armor and loads the goods in his cart. He then joins the rest of the party and says, **"Great news, I was able to get us some armor. Pretty cheap too, 24 discount if we buy the set."**

**"What did you get?"** asked Bowen.

Ryuker answers, **"I got a chainmail, shield, boots, muffler, and a helmet. Just perfect for a swordman in training."**

**"Wow, you really got all that?"** asked artisan. Ryuker nods proudly at his accomplishment. **"Thank you everyone!"**

Juxapose nods and says, **"Don't worry about it. Besides, what good is a swordman without good armor?"**

Artisan then changes into his new armor. He feels very good wearing a steel chain mail, a real helmet, a large shield, and a pair of real boots. He feels like a knight instead of a sworman at that time. Afterwards, Ryuker used his discount skill to get him a cheap saber. Even though it's a common sword, it's much better than the sword that he was carrying around before. Now that Artisan is completely geared up, they leave the shop to find their first adventure as a team.

As they travel around Prontera randomly, Bowen asks, **"So, where are we going? Now that we have a new member, maybe we should think about training somewhere tougher."**

**"Don't worry, I'm sure the next adventure is going to find us."** answered Juxapose.

Suddenly, a horn can be heard from the center of Prontera. Seeing that it may be a perfect chance to go on an adventure, they all follow the sound of the horn towards the center of Prontera. A Prontera guard is standing in front of a statue of the god of war Odin trying to get every adventurer's attention.

The Prontera guard then unrolls a scroll and announces, **"Attention adventurers of Rune-Midgard! King Tristam III has an important job for anyone who is willing to accept it! The Prontera culverts seems to be blocked up, and only a limited water supply has been reaching the citizens of Prontera! We sent a research team to see what is going on, but they haven't arrived back with any news yet! Will anyone take the job to see what's going on in the culverts? King Tristam III will pay handsomely for a job well done. We will also supply some wares for your adventure at no cost to you."**

The entire city laughs. A local merchant tells the guard, **"Are you kidding? That place is a noob farm! Only a novice would happily go there!"**

A random novice then says, **"Yeah, right. That place is too easy for even me."**

Artisan thought for a moment. He then whispers to his party, **"Why don't we take the job?"**

**"Are you crazy? If we go, we'll be the laughing stock of Prontera."** answered Bowen.

**"I think it's a good idea."** said Juxapose.

**"Why?"** whined Bowen and Ryuker.

Juxapose smiles slyly and says, **"Yeah, I know that Prontera culverts is a noob farm, but King Tristam III always pays good. Since it's so easy, we could get paid, and be home before dinner time."**

Artisan approaches the Prontera guard and says, **"We'll take the job!"**

**"Who's the leader of your team?"** asked the Prontera guard.

Juxapose approaches the guard and says, **"I am!"**

The Prontera guard then hands him some forms to fill out. He then tells Juxapose, **"OK, just as promised, here are some supplies. 10 red potions, 5 orange potions, a green potion, and 5,000 zenny. I need you all to sign here."** Even though the team can hear the laughing and mocking of the citizens of Prontera, Juxapose happily ignores them and continues to sign the forms. **"OK! Take this copy to the gate keeper of the culverts, and report to me when you've cleared it."**

After getting the documents they need to go to the culverts, they march to the outskirts of Prontera, and arrive at the entrance with no incident. After showing the proper paperwork to the guard, they all go inside, and begin their adventure.

Inside the culverts is a complex sewer system underneath Prontera. All they find in the sewers are a bunch of rats called Tarou, and some small insects called thief bugs. There is a rancid smell coming from the waterways in the sewers, so the team tries to walk through as quickly as they can before they pass out from the foul smell.

Artisan dares to ask, **"Why is the water so polluted in here?"**

**"Don't ask. There are about 10,000 people living in Prontera, and the toilets have to lead somewhere."** answered Juxapose.

Artisan sighs and says **"Never mind. . ."**

They continue through the sewer pipes of the Culverts. Deep in the culverts, they find some steps that lead deep into the pipes underneath the city of Prontera. Just as the guard mentions, there is no water in the pipes. The pipes are heavily populated by the insects and rats, along with some mushroom-like monsters called spores. They just pass through trying to avoid killing anything. That is until a thiefbug stops in front of Artisan.

**"Yuck, I hate insects!"** yelled Artisan. He then steps on the thiefbug, killing it instantly. The loud crushing sound fills the sewers. Juxapose, Ryuker, and Bowen stops, and turn around nervously. They all have a shocked look on all of their faces.

**"What did you do!?"** asked Juxapose.

Artisan answers **"What? I just stepped on a bug."**

Suddenly, a disturbing loud noise can be heard from behind Artisan. He turns around, and sees about 100 thiefbugs approaching them, none of them are happy.

Juxapose knows that even though the insects are normally passive, they turn highly agressive as soon as you kill one of their own. He then yells, **"Oh crap. RUN!!"**

The team runs as fast as they can deeper into the pipes of the culvert. But as they run, the other insects they pass also join in on the hunt. Little by little, the thiefbugs are catching up to them. Artisan, who is wearing all his new heavy armor, can not run as fast as the rest of the team. So little by little, the rest of the team are leaving him behind as well.

Bowen looks back and says, **"Guys! We are leaving Artisan behind!"**

Ryuker and Juxapose stops and says, **"We have no choice, we have to turn back and fight!"**

The team turns around, and started spamming their skills like crazy.

Ryuker casts Cart Revolution, and slams his cart against the opposing insects. Artisan casts Magnum Break, and drives his blade into the ground causing a firey explosion. Bowen raises his bow into the air and casts Arrow Shower which rains arrows on the insects. By now, there are few insects left, so Juxapose casts Envenom on the remaining thief bugs. After that, they finally defeat all of the thief bugs. But the battle leaves them weary, and they need to sit and rest after the unexpected battle.

As they sit and catch their breath, Juxapose looks at Artisan and says **"Hey Artisan?"**

**"Yes?"**

**"Don't ever do that again. It would be embarrassing to die in this noob farm."**

**"How was I supposed to know that the bugs would react that way?"** asked Artisan.

Bowen jumps in and says, **"Just forget about it. Lets just clear the culverts, and get out of here!"**

The team then continues to move along through the culverts after their rest. After getting through the thiefbugs, they finally reach the end of the sewers. They find the gates to the water channels locked up, which explains why there is no water going to Prontera.

Juxapose runs ahead to the locked gate and says, **"Check this out. The gates of the sewers are locked!"**

Ryuker then examins the dead bodies and says, **"That's not all. There are dead bodies here. I wonder what happened to them?"**

Juxapose laughs and continues, **"Don't worry about them. They were probably weak, so they probably got killed by some drainliars or something."** He then examines the gate, and finds a crank on the left side. **"Now, lets see. . . I bet if I turn this crank, it'll open the water channel."**

Juxapose turns the crank, and the water channel begins to open. However, as the channel opens little by little, they all see something horrid in the other side waiting for Juxapose to open.

Artisan trembles and says, **"Uhh. . . Juxapose?"**

**"Don't worry. . . I'll have this open in a jiffy."** said Juxapose as he continues to open the channel.

Bowen trembles and says,** "Juxapose. . ."**

**"After we get back, we'll get paid lots of moolah. We'll be able to eat freely for weeks."** said Juxapose as the gate is about to be fully opened.

**"JUXAPOSE!!"** yelled Ryuker.

**"What is it?"**

Artisan, Bowen, and Ryuker points at the open gate and yells, **"THAT!!"**

On the other side of the open gate, there is a golden colored giant bug. The bug is over twice as tall as Juxapose is tall, and over 20 feet in length. As the team trembles in front of the giant sized insect, it lets out a loud roar showing that it's a highly agressive monster.

Juxapose sweats heavily as he says, **"I think we're in trouble. . . RUN!!"**

All four team members run as fast as they can, but the golden thief bug is much faster.

Ryuker looks back at the raging insect and yells, **"We can't outrun it, we'll have to escape! Let me pass out the butterfly wings!"**

Artisan yells back, **"By the time you pass out the wings, we'll all be dead! We have no other choice. We'll fight it!"**

Artisan turns around, and draws his sword. However, before he gets a good swing, the golden thiefbug tackles him, sending him flying against the wall.

Juxapose follows Artisan's advice and commands, **"Bowen, cover me! Ryuker, help Artisan."**

**"Roger!"** replied Ryuker and Bowen.

Ryuker runs towards Artisan while the other two challenges the golden thiefbug. Ryuker then uses some potions on Artisan and says, **"Are you OK?"**

Artisan stands up nearly stumbling and says, **"I'll be fine. . . Just need another potion."**

Ryuker hands him a potion from his cart and says, **"Quickly, drink this orange potion."**

As Artisan heals himself, Juxapose and Bowen are busy with the golden thief bug. Juxapose jumps on top if it, and tries to stab it, but the golden thief bug's hide is too thick. Bowen's arrows are not doing anything to the giant bug either. **"Damn, my arrows are not doing anything to it. . . Maybe if I use these. . ."** said Bowen as he takes out some sharp arrows that he crafted earlier.

Bowen then yells, **"Double Strafe!"** as he launches two arrows at the same time at the insect. The arrows are able to crack through the golden thief bug's tough armor. The giant golden bug lets out a loud screech, and tries to retaliate by tackling Bowen. Because Bowen wears light armor, he is able to jump out of the way, and the golden thiefbug hits a wall instead. Juxapose falls off the golden thiefbug, and lands safely on the floor. The golden thief bug then tries to attack Juxapose, but Ryuker attacks it first with a Mamonite.

At this point, the golden thief bug is very angry now, so it tackles Ryuker. The blow is too strong for Ryuker to take, so he passes out. However Artisan had a trick up his sleeve. Before the golden thief bug finishes Ryuker, he casts his Provoke skill on it. A jester like shadow jumps on the golden thiefbug's head, and annoys the giant bug. The golden thief bug is now furious, it's eyes are glowing red as it stares at Artisan.

**"That's right. . . Come at me!"** Artisan yells provoking the monster even further.

**"No! Artisan! You'll be killed!"** yelled Juxapose. He wants to help, but he is too far away helping Ryuker to help him.

The golden thiefbug charges as fast as it could in order to take Artisan down in a single blow. But Artisan uses his new shield to block it's attack. The shield is angled so the Golden thiefbug can turn over, and with a big push, it rolls on it's back. Artisan then jumps on it's soft belly, and stabs it through it's heart. The golden thief bug is now dead.

Now that the threat is over, Artisan jumps off the dead bug and sits down to restore his strength. Using a Yggdrasil leaf, Ryuker came to, and sees the bug defeated. They all gather around Artisan, and Juxapose cheers, **"Artisan, you defeated the monster!"**

Artisan takes a deep breath and says, **"It was nothing. . . But what about Ryuker? Is he going to be Okay?"**

**"Don't worry I'm fine. I had a Yggdrasil Leaf."** answered Ryuker.

After Artisan regains his energy, they examine the bug for the spoils of battle. Bowen then asks, **"Were you able to steal anything Juxapose?"**

**"You bet I did!"** answered Juxapose. He then shows the team what he got from the golden thiefbug. A card with the image of the bug they defeated that he was able to steal while he was on it's back.

Ryuker nearly passes out from shock as he says, **"NO WAY!! You stole the card!"**

Juxapose smiles as he says, **"Yes, nothing goes through Juxapose's nimble fingers!"**

Ryuker then examines the dead bug. He gasps and says, **"Check this out! The bug's shell is made out of pure gold. We're RICH!!"**

After jumping for joy, the team takes the bug's hide, and whatever else they could get from the bug, and leaves the culverts. Back in Prontera, King Tristam III paid the team 20,000 zenny for their hard work in the sewers. They also took the gold to the closest shop they can find, and exchanged the hide for 50,000 more zenny.

With pockets full of money, the team goes back to the tavern, and had lots of meat and drinks. Juxapose avoided any milk on the menu. Everyone raises their mugs and yells, **"Cheers!"**

Juxapose takes a long drink of wine for the first time in a while, and yells, **"Haha, great job team! Thanks to our newest member, we now can afford to eat extremely well for a long time!"**

Artisan's face turned red in embarassment and says,** "We all defeated that monster, not just me."**

Juxapose then turns to Ryuker, and asks, **"By the way, how much do you think we could sell this card for?"**

Ryuker starts punching in numbers in his calculater, then laughs, **"I don't know. My calculator doesn't have enough digits."**

Juxapose, and Bowen laughs and yells, **"HAHAHAHA!! Good joke!"**

**"Actually, I was wondering if we could keep it instead."** Artisan suggested.

Juxapose asks, **"Really? Why?"**

Artisan explains, **"I was reading the description, and it sounds very useful for future adventures."**

Juxapose thinks for a moment, and asks Ryuker for an opinion. **"What do you say Ryuker?"**

Ryuker checks his numbers and says, **"We made more than enough zenny with all that gold and reward money. We won't need to sell it."**

Juxapose nods and concludes, **"Fine. We'll keep it."**

Everyone then raises their mugs once again and yells, **"Cheers!"**

And so, their fist adventure as a team is over and done. Even though they all were only inches away from losing their lives, they had a lot of fun, and were handsomely rewarded. What other adventures will they go through next?

_End of chapter 2_


	3. Part 1, Chapter 3

Because their last adventure was so profitable, Juxapose and his party decide to take a week vacation from any adventures. They've mostly been relaxing at a nearby inn, but they do train with some nearby monsters for some mild exercise. But after a week of relaxation, they decide to get off their lazy hides, and get back to being adventurers.

The entire week they have been relaxing, they have heard of no adventures in Prontera. So they walk through the roads of Prontera thinking about their next adventure. As they travel through Prontera, Artisan asks, **"Hey Juxapose, have you thought about what we are going to do next?"**

Juxapose answers, **"I was thinking about paying Geffen a visit. I've wanted to go there for a while, but I got sidetracked with Ryuker back in Alberta, and Bowen back in Payon."**

Artisan then suggests, **"Well. . . I was thinking about this for a few days now, maybe we should hire us a healer. Like an acolyte or something."**

Juxapose laughs at his suggestion and says, **"Come on. . . Where are we going to find an acolyte? There are not many in Rune-Midgard to begin with. And all the acoltes that currently exist are either in parties or guilds already. It's not like we'll find one sitting around somewhere."**

**"Well, what about that one?"** asked Artisan. He then points at a female acolyte who was sitting down at a bench reading a bible near the Prontera church. Bowen's eyes glow with delight as he looks into her baby blue eyes, creamy white skin, and medium brunette hair tied back into a ponytail. She has long pointed ears which is evidence that she has elven blood. With a typical acolyte uniform, a biretta, and a small mace strapped to her waist, she is definitely an acolyte.

"**WOW! She's so hot!"** yelled Bowen. The acolyte's sheer beauty causes Bowen to involuntarily approach her with an amorous look on his face.

Ryuker slaps his forhead and says, **"Oh jeez, not again."**

**"Again?"** asked Artisan.

Bowen approaches the acolyte biting a witherless rose, and makes a gentleman like stance. With a changed tone, he gains her attention by saying, **"Hello there."**

The acolyte looks up at Bowen, and says, **"Oh, hello."**

Bowen then bows and says, **"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Bowen, and I must say. . . Although the rest of the world sees an acolyte, I see an angel who had descended from the heavens for the sole purpose to bless the world with her radiant beauty. Please, tell me. What is your name?"**

The acolyte stares at Bowen with a blank expression and says, **"Uhh. . . Chisa."**

Bowen then takes Chisa's hand and kisses it. He then stands up and raises an arm to the sky while saying, **"Ah, Chisa, what a heavenly name. So full of life, and energy. I am stunned by your innocent charm and -"**

Before Bowen was done with his pick-up lines, Ryuker hits him over the head with a mace that he had in his cart and says, **"What a ham. . ."  
**  
Artisan whispers, **"Does he always do that?"**

Juxapose whispers back, **"This is why we are an all male party. He scares the girls away."** Juxapose then approaches Chisa, who is left stunned after seeing Bowen getting hit right in front of her. He bows respectfully and says **"I apologize miss Chisa for my teammates rude behavior. He's a bit of a flirt, but he's really harmless. It's best to just ignore him."**

Chisa waves at Juxapose and responds, **"It's fine. But will he be okay?"**

Juxapose answers, **"Oh, he's perfectly fine, this happens all the time. We were going to ask you to join our party, but after seeing all this, you probably thing we're all wierd. So we'll be on our way now. I apologize for bothering you once again."**

As the rest of the team walks away dragging Bowen behind them, Chisa stands up and yells, **"Wait a second!"**

Juxapose looks back and asks** "Yes? What can I do for you?"**

Chisa bows at the team and requests, **"I was thinking about joining a party anyway. If you want me to join you, I'll come along. . . If it's Okay?"**

Juxapose smiles and says, **"Of course! You're more than welcome to join us."**

Bowen then wakes up and jumps for joy shouting, **"HURRAAAAY!! I bet it was by charm and skill in archery that convinced her to join. I'll enjoy the hunts from now on because -"**

Ryuker whacks him again and says,** "Just shut up already."  
**  
With their new party member, the team moves through Prontera, heading towards the west gate. As they walk, Chisa curiously asks, **"By the way. . . Where are we going?"**

Juxapose answers, **"We are going to Geffen, the city of magic."**

Ryuker scratches his head, and points behind him saying, **"But. . . We passed the Warp Agent a few minutes ago."**

Juxapose laughs and responds, **"We are not using the warp agent today, we are walking."  
**  
Ryuker and Bowen whines, **"Awww, but why?"**

**"Quit your complaining!"** Yelled Juxapose. **"There is no adventure in using the warp agent in every city. Besides, we've had a week off from training. Consider this a warm up for the next adventure."**

Ryuker sighs and says,** "But we have a new party member. It might be too much of a walk for her."  
**  
**"Actually, I don't mind."** said Chisa.

Bowen raises his arm in the air and says, **"We'll, that settles that. Anything Chisa wants to do, I want to do as -"**

Ryuker whacks him on the head once again, and says, **"Moron. Can't you behave for at least 5 minutes?"**

With that, the team leaves Prontera to head to Geffen. However, things are not as easy as they hoped for on their way there. They had a set route to go, but as they travel together, they get lost in the forest. Juxapose then asks Bowen, **"Bowen, are you sure we are heading in the right direction?"**

Bowen takes a look at his map and says, **"According to the map, we are. But how strange. . . This place doesn't look like Froggie swamp. Maybe we took a wrong turn at Rocker plains."**

Ryuker snatches the map and says, **"The map is upside-down! Give me that! . . . Great! I have no clue where we are."**

Artisan then points at a nearby monster and says, **"Hey guys. Is that thing supposed to be here?"**

The whole team stares at the goblin floating around in a flying machine. Ryuker says, **"I have no idea what that is."**

Juxapose gasps and yells, **"That's a goblin steamrider!"**

**"Did you say goblin?"** asked Ryuker. He then checks the map once again. **"We are in Goblin Village! Bowen! You Idiot!"**

Bowen laughs nervously and says, **"Look at the bright side. We are technically in Geffen territory."**

**"That's not the point!"** yelled Juxapose.

Chisa trembles nervously and asks, **"Are we in trouble?"**

**"No, but we need to get out of here. Goblins are not very strong, but they have a large number of warriors."** answered Juxapose.

They turn around and try to leave unnoticed. But as soon as they turn around, they see about 15 goblins blocking their path. The goblins are small tribes folk wearing clothing made out of grass, armor made out of wood, and weapons made out of stone. Their skin is gray, and they all wear huge masks that cover their entire face. One of the goblins says, **"Humans and elves are not allowed in our village!"**

**"Woah there. We are just lost, if you just let us pass, we'll get out of here as soon as possible."** said Juxapose.

The goblins jump around and they all chant, **"No chance! Prepare to die!"**

Since they cannot talk their way out of it, the team drew their weapons. They are outnumbered, so the team needs to use their best skills in order to survive.

Juxapose starts off the battle with his Envenom skill. Artisan follows up with a Bash skill, and defeats the first goblin. Ryuker then casts Mammonite on the next goblin, spending some of his hard earned money. Trying to look cool for Chisa, Bowen draws his bow back and uses his Double Strafe skill to defeat another goblin. The team of goblins feel that they cannot win the battle, so they retreat. They take their wounded, and leave the scene. However during the fight, Juxapose got injured.

Chisa checks on Juxapose's wound and asks, **"Are you okay?"**

Juxapose covers his injury and says, **"It's just a flesh wound. If you could heal me, It'll get better."**

Chisa then looks away and says sheepishly, **"Ahh. . . Well, umm. . . Heal. . . That is. . . I'm sorry!"**

**"Is something wrong?"** asked Artisan.

Chisa then fidgets with her fingers and admits, **"Well, I don't know how to use magic yet."**

**"Seriously?"** asked Ryuker.

Chisa bows at the rest of the team and says, **"Well, I've only graduated from the Prontera church 10 minutes before we met. So I haven't had a chance to learn any healing magic yet. I'm sorry, I should have mentioned it earlier. If you want to expel me from the party, I'll understand."**

Ryuker gives Juxapose a potion to heal his wound. Juxapose then approaches Chisa with a serious look on his face, Chisa was a bit worried. But Juxapose just patted Chisa on the head and says, **"Don't worry so much about it. We were all novices at one point in time. Learning how to use our skills takes time, and lots of practice."**

**"You are not going to expel me?"** asked Chisa.

Juxapose looks at the rest of the party and asks, **"What do you say team? Keep her in the party?"** Team rest of the team agrees to keep her. Juxapose then says, **"See, we all are friends in this party. I'm sure that you'll learn how to heal very soon."**

Chisa becomes emotional and tears up. She then says, **"Okay. . . Thanks everyone!"**

Bowen then changes the tone of his voice again and says, **"Well, It was my idea to have an acolyte in the party anyways. Maybe you could show your appreciation by going on a date with -"**

Ryuker whacks him on the head again and says, **"Liar! This is not the time for that! Juxapose, shall we retreat?"**

Juxapose thinks for a moment and says, **"No, we're so deep that it'll take us longer to get out the way we came in. We'll have to push on ahead."**

The team then moves along in the party. Even though they are going deeper and deeper into the Goblin Village, they are not getting attacked. Bowen and Ryuker feel that they overpowered the goblins, so they are allowing them to leave. But Juxapose doesn't feel that the goblins will allow them to leave that easily. He keeps looking around, and listens carefully for any abnormal actions. After about 20 minutes of walking, the party is able to see the exit of the village.

Artisan points at the exit and says, **"Look, it's the way out!. Come on! Lets go!"**

Juxapose grabs Artisan from the back of his armor stopping him from running ahead, and says, **"Artisan, wait! Something is not right! This is too easy. . ."**

Suddenly in an instant, 10 of the strongest goblins of all classes rushes out out of the bushes, and surround the team. They all prepare to fight, but from the north side of the circle, the goblin leader walks into the circle of goblins. Unlike the rest of the goblins, the Goblin Leader is much taller. Even taller than everyone in the party. He is also wearing metal armor and carries a one handed spear and a shield. He wears a crown on his head, and a cape made for a king.

The leader points their spear at the team and yells, **"How dare you! We have a peace treaty between monsters and human kind."**

Juxapose steps forward and says, **"Hold on a second! I am Juxapose, the leader of this party. We just got a little lost, and we were just leaving."**

**"That is no excuse to attack our people!"** yelled the Goblin leader.

Juxapose responds, **"What are you talking about! You attacked us first!"  
**  
The Goblin Leader jumps up and down furiously and says, **"Enough of your lies! Goblin troop, ATTACK!"**

The team cannot avoid battle, so they prepare themselves for a good fight. Ryuker casts Crazy Uproar to raise his streangth, and Bowen casts Improve Concentration to increase his accuracy and damage. Chisa stays in the back of the team, and everyone else gets in formation to protect her. Even theough they are outnumbered two to one, the battle doesn't take long before it is over. The goblins lose the fight with the four warriors, and the one acolyte hidden in the back.

Goblin Leader nods and says, **"Not bad, now it's my turn!"** It starts the battle by casting Maximize Power on itself.

Juxapose tries to attack him, but his flee rate is not good enough to dodge the leader's attacks. Bowen tries his double strafe attack, but the Goblin Leader blocks the arrows with it's shield. Ryuker keep hitting it with his Mammonite attack, but it doesn't do much. Artisan then charges in for an attack, but the goblin leader blocked him with the shield.

The Goblin Leader and Artisan are in a dead lock between sword and shield. Artisan tries to push the Goblin neader back and make him open for a good attack, but it's to heavy to move alone. It then casts Shield Charge on him, which pushes Artisan back really hard, and hits a nearby tree.

Chisa runs to Artisan's aid while the rest of the team is fighting a losing battle with the Goblin Leader. **"Artisan! Are you okay?"** she calls out to him.

Artisan tries to get up, but he sprained his leg and arm on the impact against the tree.** "I'm hurt pretty bad. Looks like I can't help the rest of the team. . ."**

Chisa panics. She doesn't know what to do, but she needs to help the rest of the party. Ryuker is busy fughting, so he cannot pass out healing potions out to the rest of the party. Out of desperation, she claps her hands together and says, **"Don't worry! Uhh. . . I hope this works. . . Heal!"**

A faint light surrounds Artisan. Soon enough, all of his pain has vanished along with the light. Chisa's attempt at her first spell was a complete success! She then jumps up and down yelling, **"I did it. . . I did it!!"**

Artisan wants to celebrate with her, but he knows that they are in the middle of battle. He the commands, **"I'll help the rest of the team! Chisa! Please support!"**

**"OK!"** yells Chisa cheerfully. As Artisan charges into battle, Chisa continuously casts Heal on the rest of the party members

Artisan charges back into the fight, and surprises the Goblin Leader with a Bash attack. The attack sends the Goblin Leader's shield flying through the air leaving it open to any attack. Juxapose then casts Envenom, and poisons the Goblin Leader. Bowen casts Arrow Shower which pins his robe to the ground lowering his evasion. Ryuker finishes with a Mammonite against his gut. Soon the Goblin Leader falls on it's knees.

Juxapose then takes his dagger, and points it at the goblin leader's throat while saying, **"Listen, we don't want to kill you, so just retreat, and let us pass."  
**  
The Goblin Leader is furious, but it has no other choice but to admit defeat. **"Damn you all, I wont forget this insult!"** It then uses Teleport, and escapes with his life. And so, the team wins another battle, thanks to Chisa and her great timing.

Juxapose smiles at Chisa and says, **"I knew that you would learn how to use magic soon."**

Chisa makes a victory sign with her hand and says, **"He he, aren't you guys glad you didn't expel me after all?"**

Bowen changes his tone once again and says, **"Of course we are glad, and I don't know about the rest of them, but I am the happiest that you are still -"**

Ryuker whacks him again and says, **"That's enough from you for one day."**

Juxapose nods and points towards the exit yelling, **"Ryuker, Bowen, Artisan, Chisa! Now, off to Geffen, the city of Magic!"**

Everyone jumps up cheerfully and says **"Okay!"**

_End of chapter 3_


	4. Part 1, Chapter 4

**Part 1, Chapter 4**

When the team arrives at the Magic City of Geffen, the first thing they do is hit the magic shops to stock up on supplies, and buy their newest member a new rod to use. The team then decides to drop by the location Juxapose wanted to see while they are there. The Tower Of Geffen.

Artisan looks up impressed at the building and says, "So this is Geffen Tower, the place where wizards practice their magic at the summit. But, why are we here?"

Juxapose laughs full heartedly and says, "Isn't it obvious?"

Artisan scatches his healmet and answers, "Not really, if you wanted to be a mage, then you should have come here, not stick to Morroc."

Ryuker steps forward and says, "Actually, Juxapose didn't want to come here for the top of the tower, but rather, what's underneath it."

"That's Right! Below Geffen Tower lies the entrance to Geffenia. The city that was destroyed by a huge comet summoned using forbidden magic. Now, Geffenia is plagued with powerful monsters. One day, we will enter Geffenia, and defeat the demon known as Doppelganger!" announced Juxapose.

"Why would you want to beat him that badly?" asked Artisan.

"Because, if we did, we are all guaranteed promotion!"

Bowen then rubs his stomach and says, "I'm hungry! Isn't there a inn somewhere around?"

The exhausted team all feel the same way, and asks a guard for the nearest inn. They then rest themselves at a nearby restaurant, and eat their fill of the local specialties. After they finish their meal, Juxapose rises with a goblet in his hand to make an announcement. "A toast to our newest member Chisa! If we didn't find such a talented acolyte, we would have been finished at the Goblin Village."

Everyone but Chisa chhers, "Three cheers for Chisa!"

Chisa blushes and says, "Thanks guys. You've been so nice to me, and so patient. I'll try my hardest to be a valued member of the team."

Bowen then slides towards Chisa, and says, "You know. . . If you need extra training, I'll be happy to give you private lessons. We'll just head over to Payon Dungeon, and -"

Ryuker whacks Bowen over his head with a mace and says, "Please, not while we're still eating."

Chisa checks on Bowen who is twitching on the floor, and says,"Is he going to be OK?"

Bowen takes another bite of his food and says, "Don't waste your worry on him. I've hit him with my trusted mace over a thousand times. He's an idiot, but he's quite tough."

"Oh, OK then." said Chisa. Everybody then laughs hard. However, as the team is enjoying themselves, a mage runs into the restaurant in a hurry.

With a desperate look on his face, the mage yells, "Help me! Please! Someone, anyone please! I need a rescue party!"

All the other customers looks over at the mage with an angry snarl. one of the customers apporoaches him and says, "Well, well. Look at what we have here. It's Iyashi, begging for help now. So tell us, what happened to your partner?"

"She's still inside the Orc Dungeon! Please! We have to help her!" he begged.

A merchant finishes his drink and says, "Wait a second! You mean that you left her there by herself?"

"No! It's not like that! She opened up a warp portal, and pushed me in. But she didn't come out of the portal after me! She might have been captured!"

An archer thrown a bone at him and yells, "Yeah? So why would we care? It serves her right for always partying with a jerk like you."

The entire restaurant laugheds. Juxapose becames very angry with everyone, even if he had a bad history with the others in Geffen, he feels that it's wrong to turn his back on someone in need. With that, he approached the mage, and says "Iyashi right? We'll help you!"

Iyashi bows before Juxapose and says, "Thank you! Please, we have to hurry!"

The team doesn't take even a moment to prepare. They leave the restaurant as quickly as they can, and rush to the nearest Warp Agent. They used the warp agent to warp them to the entrance of Orc Village. As soon as they all get there, Iyashi starts to run ahead of the rest of the team. The team then follow him, and runs into some orc warriors.

Iyashi yells, "Out of my way! Frost Driver!"

The stream of frozen air that rushes out of his hands freezes the orcs in place. The orcs are now frozen, and Iyashi is able to run through. After Chisa casts Increase Agility on the rest of the party, the team is able to catch up to the frantic mage.

Juxapose Runs up to the mage and asks, "Iyashi! What were you and your partner doing here anyway?"

Iyashi answers, "We heard about a treasure that lies below the Orc Village inside the dungeon. Everything was fine until we came across a couple of orc archers. We couldn't handle them, so our only option was to run. But I fear the worst might had happened already. I just hope we're not too late."

After some running, the team is able to see the entrance of the Orc Dungeon from the distance. However, they are stopped by a group of orcs. Juxapose gasps and yells "It's the Orc Lord!"

Iyashi stops and yells, "We can't fight them! We'll have to use fly wings!"

The Orc Lord points at the party and yells "Humans and elves are not allowed to wander in our sacred land! Orc Archers! Ready your bows! And FIRE!!"

The team of orc archers shoot their arrows at the party. But before the arrows hit, the team had already warped away. Because they all use fly wings, they all scatter in different locations. They eventually met up near the south exit of the village after some random fighting or running.

After Artisan catches his breath, he says, "Now what do we do? The entrance is being guarded by the Orc Lord."

"We'll have to find another way in!" said Juxapose.

Iyashi snaps his fingers and says, "I know! We'll use the back entrance, it's not far from here!"

With Iyashi leading the way, the team runs into the direction Iyashi runs to. In no time, they find the back entrance to the Orc Dungeon. Iyashi does not hold back, he just runs in ahead of the team again. A group of Orc Skeletons stop him at the entrance. Iyashi yells, "Out of my way! Frost Driver!" The cold blasts of air passes through the monsters, the spell has no effect.

The skeletons raise their mighty axes, and they try to swing their mighty axes to cut off Iyashi's head. However, Bowen rushes in and yells, "Double Strafe!" Bowen's silver arrows make quick work of the undead skeletons. Iyashi is now on his knees breathing heavily, if it wasn't for Bowen, he would have lost his life.

Artisan then comes up to Iyashi, and placed his hand on him, and says, "Please, calm down. I know that you must be hysterical, but you shouldn't run ahead. You can't help your friend if you get killed."

"I know, I'm sorry." said Iyashi.

Juxapose points forward and says, "Come on, we have to hurry!"

The team runs through the dungeon, encountering many skeletons along the way. Using teamwork, they are able to defeat all the opponents that stood in their way. Soon enough, they arrive at the location where Iyashi had left his companion. Two orc archers are watching a crowd of zenorcs surround something.

Iyashi points at the Zenorcs and yells, "That's them. They must have captured her! I must go and same her!"

Juxapose holds Iyashi back and says, "Hold on a second! If you go in there now, you'll be killed. We'll have to take them out together. Someone will have to take the arrows, while 2 people surprise them."

"I'll take care of the arrows." volunteered Artisan.

Juxapose nods and says, "Fine, me and Ryuker will go around them, and make a surprise attack. Iyashi, I want you to cast your strongest fire spell on one of them. Chisa, you'll make sure you heal Artisan. Bowen, cover them."

Everyone nods, and heads into place. Artisan steps out of hiding, and starts the plan. He yells, "Provoke!" and summons a small jester to annoy the Orc Archers. The annoyed archers starts shooting arrows at Artisan. Iyashi starts casting a spell while Juxapose and Ryuker takes advantage of the confusion. While Iyashi was casting, an orc skeleton finds them, and tries for an attack.

Bowen draws his bow back and yells, "Arrow Repel!" Bowen's attack pushs the skeleton back, and then he starts launching arrows at anyone who came close.

After several moment Iyashi spent casting his spell, he yells, "Fire Bolt!" The spell is able to take out one of the orc archers. Juxapose and Ryuker rushes out of hiding, and start their part of the plan.

Ryuker grabs his mace and yells, "Mammonite!"

Juxapose yells, "Envenom!" poisoning and finishing his target.

Now that the two archers are taken out, the team used their skills to drive away the zenorcs. However, the team is too late. After the zenorcs leave, they find a lifeless acolyte laying on the ground. There is blood everywhere, and several of her limbs have already been eaten. Iyashi runs to her, and hold her body. He then turns to the party and begs, "Please! Doesn't anyone of you have a Yggdrasil leaf?"

Chisa shakes her head no and says, "That wont do any good."

Iyashi screams, "Why not!!"

Chisa kneels down and says, "Look at her. Her left arm, and her right leg are completely eaten. Plus her neck is torn up. Even a high priest couldn't bring her back to life. I'm sorry, but she's dead."

Iyashi is devastated. He cradles the acolyte's body like a baby, and holds it close. His robes are being stained by her bloos, but at this point, he doesn't care. All he can do is cry helplessy and say, "Please. . . Can't I do anything at all?"

Juxapose looks away and says, "I'm sorry, but all you can do now is give her a proper burial."

After Iyashi has calmed down several hours later, they all teleport back to Prontera where they buried the acolyte. After the ceremony, Iyashi sat by her grave and rested a witherless rose on it. Chisa walks up to the grave, and prayed.

As Chisa prays for the fallen acolyte, Iyashi says "I'm sorry Jasmine. I couldn't protect you. Please forgive me."

"It's unfortunate, but this is how many of us acolytes are destined to end." said Chisa.

Iyashi looks at Chisa and says, "What do you mean?"

"Acolytes are trained to protect their friends, and their party members. Sometimes, even at the cost of their very lives. She did what any acolyte would have done."

Iyashi wipes the tears from his eyes and said, "She was more than just my partner, she was also my first love. We made a promise that as soon as we get promoted, we would get married."

The rest of the team arrive with flowers that they bought at the flower merchant nearby. Soon enough, Jasmine's grave was completely covered in flowers.

Juxapose lays his hand on Iyashi's shoulder and says, "I'm sorry about your loss. I never lost anyone, so I have no idea how it must feel. . . But I was wondering, what will you do from now on?"

Iyashi thinks for a moment and says, "I don't know, I didn't plan for this to ever happen. I don't know what to do."

Juxapose then says, "Why don't you come with us? I know that we never could replace her, but I'm sure you could use some friends."

Iyashi then gets up, and takes his wand off the floor. He raises it up high and says, "Very well, I'll join you. I swear by the great wizards before me, I'll never allow this to ever happen again. I will become stronger!"

And so, the party has another member joined with them. No one really knows where will the party be heading next, but fate will point them in the right direction soon enough.

***End of chapter 4***


	5. Part 1, Chapter 5

**Part 1, Chapter 5**

After paying their respects to a fallen hero, the team heads towards their next destination in search for adventure. Even though Iyashi's heart will take time to heal, he has decided to use his magic to assist his newly found friends. They now find themselves at the archer village of Payon, hometown to one of the members of the party. Payon may not be the best place for adventure, but Bowen practically begs Juxapose to go back to his hometown to feast on Payon's specialty, meat.

They spend the afternoon sitting at a restaurant stuffing themselves with freshly hunted meat, except Chisa who is a vegetarian. Bowen then takes a swig of some fresh ale and says, "Wow! Nothing like eating great roasted meat, and drink beer from your very own hometown!"

"When was the last time you were here?" asked Artisan before taking a bite from some fresh turkey.

"A few months ago. Juxapose and Ryuker came around that time hunting bears. We met up that day, and we made a decent team. So they they recruited me, and we went to all different cities, and went on quite a few adventures before you joined us."

Ryuker sighs and says, "Sometimes, I wish we'd have left him here. Ever since he joined the party, he acts like a knucklehead around girls. We tend into get in trouble with other parties, and shopkeepers."

"I've behave myself around Chisa!" yelled Bowen.

"That's because you know what I'll do to you if you don't." answered Ryuker waving his mace at him. Everybody then laughs and continues to heat heartily. Even though Payon is not the best place for adventure worthy for their experience, Juxapose has a feeling that their next big hunt will find them very soon. As the team eats, another party enters the restaurant, and sits at a nearby table. They are not adventurers, but they seem to be close friends.

"Hey, have you heard rumors about the Payon Cave?" asked the person who seems to be the leader of the group.

"No, what about it?" asked one of the other guys.

The leader looks around, and whispers, "Seems as though there are talks about a dark force present in there."

The female swordman laughs and says, "That's stupid. The Payon Cave always had zombies, skeletons, and floating virgin spirits. If that is not evil, then I don't know what is."

The leader then shakes his head no and says, "That's not what I'm talking about. Seems like something else has entered the cave."

"Something else? Like what?" asked one of the other guys in the group.

"Nobody knows. But lately, people has been going in the cave, and never coming out again. It's been about a month since parties has gone in, but went missing. I know the cave has always been cursed, but now, something EVIL lurks in those caves." answered the leader.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to go in there. Maybe King Tristam III should send some of his men in there, and check it out."

"Hey, do you hear that?" whispers Artisan

"Are you kidding? Nothing gets past my keen sense of hearing. Sounds like an adventure to me." Juxapose whispers back.

Ryuker adds his opinion, and whispers, "Payon Cave is supposed to have been raided hundreds of times, I doubt that we'll get any treasure in it."

Bowen then whispers, "But I've been to Payon cave before, and I've never heard anything about this. This must be something that started after I left."

Chisa also whispers, "Well, It is an acolyte's job to banish evil, so I say we should do it, even if we don't get any money out of it."

Iyashi begins to worry and whispers, "I don't know. . . Are you sure it's a good idea? If parties has gone missing, then what guarantee do we have?"

Juxapose proudly whispers, "Don't worry, we are a party of six. I don't think that there is anything there that we can't handle."

Artisan and Chisa nods and says, "Agreed."

"I'll be a guide if you want." volunteered Bowen.

Ryuker shakes his head in disbeleif and says, "I guess I don't have much choice. Count me in."

Iyashi equips his Evil Bone Wand and says, "I'll also have to go, to make sure everybody comes back safely."

With that decided, the team finishes their meal, and leaves the restaurant. The party then gears up, and heads out to the Payon caves. Unlike most dungeons and caverns that are usually located far away, and need a journey to get to, Payon cave is located just above the village. After they arrive, they all stopped at the entrance to have a small chat.

"By the way, what's up with this cave anyway? Zombies, skeletons, and spirits roam around here, and the people live so close to it." asked Artisan.

"According to history class when I was a kid, Payon didn't used to look like the way it is now. Many generations ago, this place was called the Kingdom of Fayon. One of the richest nations of Rune-Midguard. However, an evil foreigner used forbidden magic to summon a comet that destroyed the Kingdom of Fayon. Although most of the people in the kingdom was killed, there were enough survivors to start over, and the village was renamed Payon." answered Bowen.

"Sounds similar to what happened to Geffenia." added Iyashi.

Bowen nods and says, "It was proven that the person who summoned the Comet in Geffenia and Fayon were two completely different people. They never found out who summoned it, but they did find out that the person was killed in the impact along with the Kingdom."

Juxapose then points at the entrance of the caves and says, "Enough of the history lesson. Now, lets explore the cave!"

The team then walks into the cave. Inside the cave, the team found many weak monsters such as skeletons and zombies. But the dark and restless spirits that haunts the cave are no match for the six adventurers who has defeated much more powerful foes in the past. As they go in deeper into the cave, they find more stronger opponents, but they are still far too easy for the six member team.

Ryuker yawns and complains, "Guys, I'm bored! I can take these monsters by myself, and the best thing we found so far was this worthless skull ring."

"Don't complain. We've only scratched the surface. This cave goes very deep into the now buried ruins of Fayon." said Bowen full of confidence. After getting through the skeleton soldiers and skeleton archers, they finally reach the old ruins of Fayon. In the ruins, many sohee spirits are found floating around the completely dead city.

Bowen's eyes glow with lust as he says, "WOW! SOHEES! They are so cute and full of mystery. I just want to grab one and make sweet love to it, and -"

After whacking Bowen over his head with his mace, Ryuker says, "Stupid perv. You shouldn't torment the dead, you'll get cursed. So Juxapose, what are we looking for?"

Juxapose looks around, making great use of his great senses. He frowns and says, "Something is not right. We're very deep in the cave, yet something is missing."

"What do you mean?" asked Bowen who quickly recovers from his clubbing.

"Those people in the village did say that many parties went missing in here. If they were killed, we should have seen some sort of clue as to where or how they died. But I've seen so bodies, or remains, or anything like that." answered Juxapose. Bowen tries to make use of his great tracking skills, but he too finds nothing.

Artisan thinks for a moment and says, "Maybe they didn't go missing after all. Maybe they just left using a butterfly wing, and never told anyone that they left?"

Just then, they hear the crying of a young girl from a distance. Juxapose points at the direction of the crying voice and says, "Someone is over there! Lets go!"

The party follows the voice, and they find a young girl in a red Chinese dress sitting at a corner crying. The young girl moves her hands away from her face as the team draws closer. Juxapose then approaches the girl, and asks, "Hello there. Are you OK?"

"WOW! She's beautiful!" said Bowen before running to her aid. He then takes her by the hand and says, "Hello there little angel, can I help you with anything -"

Ryuker whacks Bowen over the head with the mace again, and says, "IDIOT!!!Can't you see that she is terrified? Last thing she needs is help from a pervert."

Chisa offers her hand to help and says, "Can you get up?"

The girl takes Chisa's hand, and gets up silently. But as their hands meet, Chisa notices something unusual about her. Her hands are frighteningly cold, and feels clammy and lifeless.

"You must be one of the missing people the villagers mentioned. Come with us, we'll take you to your family." said Juxapose, unaware of what Chisa felt about her.

The team turns around, and heads towards the way they came in. Chisa decides to stay behind, and cast a Ruach spell just in case. Just as she fears, the girl that they found is an undead corpse. Without Juxapose noticing, the girl pulls out a weapon known as the "Punisher". She quickly runs through the team, and hit Juxapose with it over the head.

Juxapose rubs the top of his head, and yells, "Hey! What was that for!?"

The girl makes a terrifying face, and her eyes begin to glow an errie red color as she yells, "Being by yourself isn't good for you~"

Bowen points at the girl and yells, "What's up with that chick? She's not making any sense!"

The strange girl then tries to attack Artisan, but he blocks using his shield. As the girl continues to mindlessly attack Artisan behind a shield, Chisa's voice screams, "Holy Light!" A burst of light energy hits the girl in the back, causing her to fall over and flail frantically in pain.

Chisa runs to the team, and yells, "She's not human, she's one of the undead!"

They continue to watch her until she finally stops moving. Beleiving that the girl is finally dead, they all relax. The battle wasn't very difficult, but it just caught them by surprise. Chisa then begins to examine the undead creature. As a warrior trained to battle the powers of the undead, she is very knowlegable when it comes to zombies and ghosts. However this undead creature is different than the rest. Unlike the other skeletons and zombies that barely hold a human image, this girl appears almost alive.

After a while, Bowen takes his attention away from the girl, and looks around the cave, He then sees something that makes him sweat nervously, and says, "Hey guys?"

"What is it Bowen?" asked Juxapose.

Bowen then points into the darkness and says, "I think that girl's boyfriend just found us, and he doesn't look very happy."

They look towards the dark shadow to see what is frightening Bowen, and they see a young man wearing a blue Chinese suit bouncing towards them with an angry look on his face. He is carrying a large blade called the "Grave Keeper's Sword".

The young Chinese man draws his sword and yells, "I shall kill you without suffering!" It then rushes to the team aiming for Bowen. Artisan intercepted his attack, and they clash swords while Iyashi casts a spell. Iyashi yells, "Soul Strike!" Then five white balls of spirit energy appear, and strike the blue Chinese warrior one by one. The undead young man then collapses after being hit by the spell.

"What's the deal with these two?" asked Ryuker.

"Could they be the reason people have gone missing?" asked Bowen

Artisan thinks for a second and says, "No, this was too easy."

Chisa shivers and says, "Something else is here. I feel an evil presence, and it wants to destroy us. . ."

Suddenly, a strange laugh can be heard. They look towards the direction of the evil laugh, and see something unusual. On top of a roof of a near collapsed building, barely hidden behind a group of Sohee virgins, they see a humanoid being in a foxlike costume. However, this feminine being is completely naked from the waist down, but has no genitals. The creature is also carrying an exaggeratedly large bell on the end of a stick.

"He he he. Naughty humans have once again attacked my little pets. Now you shall be punished." said the strange fox creature.

"Who. . . Or what are you?" asked Juxapose.

"Me? Demons have no use for a name, but if you must, call me 'The Moonlight Flower!'"

The Moonlight Flower then rings her huge bell that she is carrying. The two humanlike undead Chinese creatures stood up again upon hearing the bell. "Kill them! Kill them!", yelled the Moonlight Flower.

The undead boy and girl in Chinese clothing circle the party. But even if they are surrounded, it's two against six, so they have the advantage. Artisan begins the battle with a Magnum break, breaking up their formation. Bowen then Double Strafes the undead boy with holy arrows. Iyashi casts Soul Strike on the girl. Chisa casts as many Holy Light spells as she can as long as the battle lasts. Before the team takes any heavy damage, the two undead are defeated once again.

The Moonlight Flower rubs her chin, and says, "Not bad. Now try this! Come to me my nine tails slaves!" A group of Nine Tails pop out from the ground. After growling for a second, the started their attack. Iyashi can sense the firey spirits inside them, so he casts Frost Driver, freezing the Nine Tails solid.

"Impressive! Now, Fight me!" said the Moonlight Flower. She then casts Teleport, and appears behind Iyashi slamming him with a Mamonite spell. Iyashi was knocked out quickly by the Moonlight Flower's surprise attack.

"Iyashi! Hold on, I'll heal you!" cries Chisa running to Iyashi's aid.

"Where do you think you're going?" yells the Moonlight Flower. She then casts Ice Bolt, sending bolts of icicles at her. Chisa yells in pain as the spell hits her directly. Chisa is also knocked out.

Moonlight Flower nods with confidence, and says to the rest of the team, "Well, well. Without your healer and magic user, you're all as good as dead!"

Artisan becomes furious and yells, "You Monster!" Without thinking about the consequenses, Artisan attacks the Moonlight Flower, but he misses. Moonlight Flower uses a Hammer Fall skill to stun Artisan, and Mammonite skill to attack. Artisan is still conscious, but his leg is injured, and he cannot stand up. Juxapose, Ryuker, and Bowen fights the Moonlight Flower, but they know that they are fighting a losing battle.

As Artisan watches the rest of the team helplessly, he thinks about a plan, "What can I do? I need a heal or a potion to help, but I can't walk." He then looks at Chisa who is lying unconscious nearby, and says, "Maybe if I drag myself quietly to Chisa, I can revive her."

While the team keeps the Moonlight Flower busy, Artisan quietly drags himself near Chisa. He then reaches into his pocket for a yggdrasil leaf, and begins using it. After whispering Ressurection, he applies the leaf on Chisa's head. Chisa quietly wakes up, and heals herself.

"Thanks Artisan!" yelled Chisa, then she covers her mouth, hoping that the Moonlight Flower didn't hear her.

"Quickly, you have to heal and buff us." said Artisan.

"OK!" yelled Chisa. She then casts Heal, Blessing, Increase Agility, and Angelus on the party.

The Moonlight Flower looks back to see who is casting all those spells, and yells, "What the f***? I thought I took care of you? Doesn't matter, I'll take you down again!"

The Moonlight Flower casts teleport, and vanishes then appears in front of Chisa, and tries to swing her bell at Chisa. But Chisa casts Teleport, vanishing before the Moonlight Flower attacks her. Ryuker then swings his mace at the Moonlight Flower attempting a Mamonite attack, but she jumps away. As she evades, she holds the bell as if she's protecting it.

Artisan whispers to himself, "She seems to be awfully protective of that bell she carries."

Chisa then teleports to Iyashi, and revives him with a Yggdrasil leaf of her own. The team comes together, and forms an attack formation. Now that they know the Moonlight Flower's tricks, they are prepared to give it their all.

Artisan points at the bell and yells,"Guys, lets focus our attack on that bell! I'm sure that's her weakness!"

Juxapose nods at Artisan, and commands, "You heard him, lets work together!"

"Right!" everyone cheers together.

Juxapose and Artisan confronts the Moonlight Flower, Ryuker hides behind a wall, Bowen stands back with Chisa and Iyashi. The Moonlight Flower grows angry and yells, "I don't care how many are you, I'll still kill you!" She begins the battle by casting Mammonite on Juxapose, but Iyashi casts Safety wall, protecting him. Juxapose and Artisan are now covered in an invincible wall. The Moonlight Flower then tries to go after Iyashi, but Bowen's Arrow Repel keeps it back. Then, Ryuker comes out of hiding, and surprises the Moonlight Flower with a Mammonite surprise attack. The skill hits the bell directly, causing it to shatter.

The Moonlight Flower screams while glowing brightly. Soon enough, the fox demon grows shorter, and changes shape. When the glowing stops, the Moonlight Flower becomes reduced to a baby fox. The bodies of the two undead Chinese corpses also vanish.

Juxapose jumps for joy yelling, "We beat it!"

"Hurray!" yells everyone joining in on the celebration. And after the celebration is over, Ryuker checks for any spoils.

"Hey! Look at what I found!" yelled Ryuker. He then shows the party a book he found.

Juxapose looks at the book strangely, and asks, "What is that?"

"According to my Identify skill, it looks like a girl's diary. I can't read the contents, but I bet it belonged to that Chinese girl we fought earlier."

"Think it's worth anything?" asked Bowen.

Ryuker thinks for a moment, and says, "Maybe. A sage who collects books may buy it."

Chisa then runs to the terrified baby fox, and hugs it like a stuffed animal. "Awww, look at the cute little fox! Can we keep it?"

Juxapose panics and says, "Are you kidding? No way!"

"But why?" whined Chisa.

"That is no ordinary baby fox, it's a baby nine tails. It becomes aggressive when it grows up."

Chisa then let out a sad face. She looks at the baby fox's cute beady eyes, and cannot imagine it harming anything. Even thouth the leader of the party objects, she still wants to keep it. Artisan then comes up with an idea how to make Chisa happy. He walks to her and says, "If you want a pet, how about I buy you a Lunatic egg instead? Will that OK?"

Chisa then releases the baby fox, and lets out the biggest smile she has ever shown, "Really, you will? I already have a name for it! I want to call it. . . Mr. Whiskers!"

Artisan laughs and says, "Just hold on a second, we'll have to buy it first!"

With everything examined for loot, the team then leaves the cave, and turns in the baby fox to the leader of Payon. They are then rewarded well for their success in defeating the Moonlight Flower. And since they fought a hard battle, they all decide to stay in Payon for a few more days. What else will happen to the team as the hands of time continues to tick?

***End of chapter 5***


End file.
